Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

286 The Praeger Handbook of Education and Psychology
Figure 39.1
Constructing New Knowledge
Recognize relevant
elements in new
learning
Apply current
understandings
Think about the main
elements in the new
learning experiences Compare prior
knowledge with the
new knowledge
Prior knowledge influences
knowledge constructed from
new learning experiences.
New Knowledge
Previous Knowledge Base
Constructing New Knowledge
Modify understanding
of new knowledge
are in direct contrast to traditional methods in which teachers provide students with unchanging
knowledge they are to memorize.
Journal entry: I thought I knew what constructivism was, but the more I learn, the less I know. I guess that
this is true of most things in life. I think an important word here is disequilibrium. To have to examine and
reflect on my practices and beliefs of education has had an unbalancing effect. I guess I thought I had it all
together before I discovered constructivist approaches to use in my classroom.
If we are to meet students’ needs and help them to be successful now and in the future,
classroom planning, instructional practices, and the way we assess will undergo changes. Some
recommendations include:
1. recognizing, planning, and creating learning experiences that cover the skills that are to be learned at
every grade level versus teaching lessons that do not follow the recommended curriculum
2. planning learning experiences that will increase self-directed learning versus teacher-directed learning
3. planning for learning that is collaborative and communicative versus individual learning
4. the use of different instructional methods and grouping versus traditional whole-class instruction
5. instructional planning that recognizes student differences versus addressing differences after students
have failed
6. using multiple forms of diagnostic assessment (formative and summative) before, during, and after the
lesson versus summative assessments at the end of the lesson
7. recognizing and believing all students can learn versus sorting students out (tracking) to provide them
with different learning experiences that might not be at grade level or up to the standard.
Teachers want to improve classroom practices, but have doubts about utilizing learner-centered
approaches in their classrooms.